What is the origin of AL AIN?

Answer 1

Al Ain, literally The Spring, also known as the Garden City due to its greenery, is the second largest city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the fourth largest city in the United Arab Emirates.

Historically part of Ṫawam or Al Buraimi Oasis. Al-`Ain has been inhabited for over 4,000 years, with archaeological sites showing human settlement at Al-Hili and Jabel Ḥafeeṫ. These early cultures built "beehive" tombs for their dead and engaged in hunting and gathering in the area. The oasis provided water for early farms until the modern age. A companion of the prophet Muhammad, Ka`ab Bin Ahbar was reportedly sent to the region to introduce Islam to the people. He settled and died in the oasis. The forts currently in Al-`Ain were built in the late 19th or early 20th century to solidify Abu Dhabi's control over the oasis.

Wilfred Thesiger visited Al-`Ain in the late 1940s during his travels across the Empty Quarter. He met Sheikh Zayed and stayed with him at Al Muwaiji Fort. This network of fortresses served as the trading and slaving posts for the area.

In 1952 Saudi Arabia sent raiders to capture Al-`Ain's fortresses and incorporate the oasis into the Saudi kingdom. Forces from the Trucial Oman Scouts as well as the army of Muscat-Oman arrived to recapture the oasis. With British intervention, the Saudi forces surrendered, leaving the oasis back in the hands of Abu Dhabi and Muscat-Oman.

Prior to independence, Al-`Ain was part of the Arabian slave trade network that extended from East Africa into the Persian Gulf. In the 1960s, Sheikh Zayed abolished formal slavery. Today, some families in both Al-`Ain and Al-Buraimi are descended from these slaves.